Those 3D Google Maps - Can you 'opt out?'

[WYNIR0]

Would they still be able to get the info if your wireless router is secure?

Yep, they can get the SSID and the MAC address of your router. Word is that they can use it to help pinpoint your location when using Google Maps.

Not seen any word about them publishing this info though. Suspect that is Manic being a trifle paranoid.

[Sporky_McGuffin]

But, again, anyone actually there could pick that up themselves. If they cared.

[manicguitarist2]

But, again, anyone actually there could pick that up themselves. If they cared.

Yes they could - it is, however, illegal to do that in this country.
Also - just cos anyone could - it still makes it rather disturbing that Google Maps will identify those places with a strong WiFi signal and give information about that signal.

I guess that this will fall into 2 camps - those who agree with "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" and those that don't.

[Sporky_McGuffin]

Yes they could - it is, however, illegal to do that in this country.

Doesn't every device with WIFI identify all local access points automagically though?

I guess that this will fall into 2 camps - those who agree with "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" and those that don't.

Nah - I think it'll fall into two different camps. Those who have a secure wireless network and thus don't give a flying crap if someone can find out the SSID, and those who'll seize at any opportunity to scaremonger.

It's not as if they're parking a car outside everyone's house with a thermal imaging camera so they can see if you're picking your nose, and constantly updating the inferweb with the snotty details.

Come to think of it, given that Sky, Virgin and BT all ship their APs in a secure state, how many people out there will have an unsecured access point and didn't set it that way themselves? 2, nationwide?

[manicguitarist2]

Doesn't every device with WIFI identify all local access points automagically though?

Specifically looking for WiFi access points is illegal though. Not saying that the law makes sense (it was passed by this government after all! ), but wardriving is illegal.

[Sporky_McGuffin]

I thought that the Streetview cars' primary purpose was to capture photographic records.

[Skodster]

I really can't see the problem with Street view. There's nothing there that cannot be seen for real from any street.

If I wanted to burgle a place, I would go take a look anyway. There could be issues with Google Earth as it photographs vertically and shows hidden access points and potential egress points.

[Emperor Fabulous]

Doesn't every device with WIFI identify all local access points automagically though?

Nah - I think it'll fall into two different camps. Those who have a secure wireless network and thus don't give a flying crap if someone can find out the SSID, and those who'll seize at any opportunity to scaremonger.

It's not as if they're parking a car outside everyone's house with a thermal imaging camera so they can see if you're picking your nose, and constantly updating the inferweb with the snotty details.

You can set wireless access points to broadcast, or not, the SSID. If Google are scanning for broadcasted SSID beacons only and you're not broadcasting yours, it won't be recorded. However, it's simple to detect SSID's that aren't set to 'broadcast' ('cos in reality, the SSID data is still broadcast in other packets, but the 'beacon' setting is turned off ) A wireless network sniffer like Kismet will happily divulge SSIDs (inc 'hidden' ones), MAC addresses etc from any wireless network.

I'm wondering what advantage Google get from mapping SSID's - according to the article Manic linked to, "Spooks have long desired the ability to cross reference the Mac address of a user's connection with their real identity and virtual identity, such as their Gmail or Facebook account.", but that doesn't make sense to me. All MAC addresses are stripped off at each hop (i.e. your PC's Mac never appears in any packet that goes down your internet connection). All they could link would be the Mac address of your router (or if they were being very naughty, your internal Mac's picked up from any unencrypted wireless traffic) to your physical location. Big deal. Seeing as that data never leaves your wireless area anyway, I don't see what's so valuable about it. It can't be used to track any dodgy activity you may be indulging in, as it's not sent anywhere beyond your access point's range. I can't recall if your router's mac is sent down the DSL link to the exchange or not, but even if it is, it gets no further than the ISP's kit there. In any case, the ISP knows who you are, your router's mac, your public IP etc.

If Google were planning on publishing a map with your public IP address on there, then that would be highly dangerous indeed.

Come to think of it, given that Sky, Virgin and BT all ship their APs in a secure state, how many people out there will have an unsecured access point and didn't set it that way themselves? 2, nationwide?

You've obviously never been wardrivng then I think a more realistic figure is probably 20-30% of all (home) access points have no security whatsoever. The early ones never had any security enabled by default, and unless they break, it's not the kind of thing you ever upgrade.

[Sporky_McGuffin]

You've obviously never been wardrivng then I think a more realistic figure is probably 20-30% of all (home) access points have no security whatsoever. The early ones never had any security enabled by default, and unless they break, it's not the kind of thing you ever upgrade.

Shush you, I was exaggerating.

[timmyo]

Specifically looking for WiFi access points is illegal though. Not saying that the law makes sense (it was passed by this government after all! ), but wardriving is illegal.

Am I missing something? The article you link states:

There are no laws that specifically prohibit or allow wardriving, though many localities have laws against unauthorized access of a computer network. Whether this could be applied to wardriving is unknown, though no one has ever been convicted for it.